similar to the program in the 1940's as a a a a part solution? guest: i agree that it has got to be comprehensive, and that means it's got to be a combination of technology and border patrol, a lot of which we have put in place. but you're quite right, we have to tackle the job and deal with the fact that we do needç works here to do certain kinds of jobs. i think a temporary worker program is exactly the right way to do it. i do not know if we would do with the exact way the previous program was done, but i think we would people -- bring people in with a temporary visa, register them with their fingerprints and photographs and they would get a visa to come in and work and go back home again. my study of the issue tells me that there are a lot of people in other countries that would be perfectly happy with that. they do not want to live here full time, but they do want to work and make money for their families. that would be a win-win and take some of the pressure of border

control and allow us to focus more effort on those people who want to come to the country to do bad things as opposed to earning a living host: lee hamilton, a former co-chair of the 9/11 commission friday forward in your book. this is what he writes -- here is the cover of michael chertoff's book "homeland security: assessing the first five years" and thank you, as always, for being on the "washington journal." the value voters summit is taking place up here in washington d.c. at the omni hotel. as you can see, it has gotten underway. some of the speakers, coming up. -- coming up, senator mitch

mcconnell and others. miss california will be speaking also. but tv begins tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.. 48 hours of book tv. thank you for joining us on the "washington journal." [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] . .

this has absolutely driven them crazy. i want you to see this at. that's all watching this now. go to the monitors. >> they will not pay for my surgery. what are we going to do? >> honey, we cannot live this way. >> it to the planned parenthood is included in we are spending tax dollars on abortions. it will not a former surgery but we're forced to pay for abortion. >> are regeneration denied care. call your senator and a stop the government takeover of health care. -- our generation denied care.

[applause] >> thank you. that has really struck a nerve especially with our liberal friends. we like to be running this continually in the washington d.c. area to influence legislators. i must tell you that it costs $25,000 to do that. if you'd like to be involved in seeing that had aired in the washington d.c. area, go to our registration desk and we can take your gift by credit card or check. we will accommodate you. we would greatly appreciate your help in getting the word out. let's bring on our health care panel which is a moderated by the senior vice president of efficacy action. education policy, they faced

initiatives, and the sanctity of marriage. is a long history in local and national campaigns as a political, legal, and legislative analyst. he is a frequent guest on many talk shows and reassures -- talk shows and radio shows. "the new york times," "the wall street journal," and "forbes" magazine. would you please welcome tom mcclusky. [applause] >> are you awake yet? that is good to hear. how is that going for you? are you feeling stimulate it? i need that a little louder. this is the audience participation part. are you all feeling stimulate it?

first off, i was asked to relay any fears. this is a congressional health care panel. if you're looking pretty that panel, go to room 3200 and ask for nancy peolis. if you are looking for the death pane. l it has been beautiful to see democracy in action. first i need to lay down some ground rules. the first one, i have been warned by pelos that'si some of you are an unruly mob. -- i have been warned buyer pelosi that some of you are unruly. did you hear from a corn, keep all hands to yourself -- to hear from acorn. first about me. i have the greatest job in the world.

not only every day do i get to work in the same halls as daniel webster, john quincy adams, henry clay, i also get to work with their successors and they are very worthy. many of them are here today. this is a health care panel. i need to emphasize that. we'll have some opening remarks, but of questions need to be about health care and keep them to questions. anyone violating any of these rules, you will be punished by having to watch "the dancing with the stars" with tom delay. [laughter] first off, i would like to introduce the congressman from new jersey, congressman chris

smith. [applause] congressman smith not only represents his district admirably, he also is probably the successor to henry and no women around the world can look to him to be safer from sex trafficking and other abuses. [applause] next is representative tom price from georgia. [applause] rep price is not only the head of the republican study committee which is a good of members on capitol hill, he has also introduced a health care

reform package that addresses the fiscal and social needs that we are desperately need. our last speaker is representative michelle laughlin for the sixth district of minnesota. -- mashal bachman. [applause] frc action has a long history with rep bachmann. the work on education, health care, life, you name it. she might not know this, but we share the same honor that keep older man named as both "the worst person in the world." as i said we're trying to start off with some remarks from the congressman. first off will be congressman chris smith.

>> @ thank you very much. i am so glad to be here. -- thank yuo very much. right now, we are in a very serious crisis, as we all know. but meese a few things at the outset. i have been in the pro-life movement for 37 years. i have been in the congress for 29 years. [applause] i have cochaired the bipartisan caucus for the last 27 years. it never in all of those years have i been more concerned, and i know you share that and our panelists share that, about the abortion promotion coming out of the white house. the culture of death promoted by barack obama, his secretary of state, his cabinet, by the subcabinet, by appointees, by

czers -- czars, these are more at risk now than roe v wade itself. in the current health care debate, this is the point of contact, the place where we have to stand firm to insure that we do not see a lessening of protection for the unborn child and no further expansion of the culture of death. i do believe obamacare represents the greatest threat since roe v wade itself. they're going for it all. there are using an enormous amount of deception, misdirection. the abortion rights organizations have been playing

this game using code words like "reproductive health" and" reproductive rights." they're trying to deceive america. we know that if obamacare becomes law, approximately one- third more abortions will occur at a time when there has been a steady, persistent decline in the killings of unborn children and the woundings of their mothers, at a time when the trend is going in our direction especially among our young people. one of the polls show which is so often ask the question which lit bridge -- which asks the question but usually has a bad outcome for us, it says that america is pro-life. the abortionists have teamed up with barack obama.

they're trying to force you and i to coerce you and i, to compel every american to subsidize abortion in this healthcare plan. when the president said, seemingly airtight rhetoric the other night, that under our plan no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion. those words were false and extraordinarily misleading. [applause] i say that with profound sadness that the president would get, on such a stage with all of america and many in the world looking on, to make that kind of a false statement it is unconscionable. we know that the plan that was marked up in the house of

representatives, three committees of the house, and dr. price it did a great job fighting for life and other aspects for real health care reform, we know for a fact that when they talk about the amendment covering the public option and the affordability credits, two brand new programs, that is just thought so. this covers medicaid funding for abortion. it covers those items contained within the department of health and human services appropriation bill. what obamacare establishes two brand new programs great one would provide a bridge about 41% of poverty after medicaid -- woodbridge about 400% party. the language could not be more clear.

annie hhs secretary would have the clear authority in the public plan. is there in black and white that is public funding for abortion. we see very clearly the public plan, the affordability credits will expand at the opportunities it to destroy children, create additional venues. every state jurisdiction, every single one of them, will have to have a plan that has abortion in it for the private sector. one of the great successes of all of us a fighting for life in this great human rights struggle of our time has been the fact that there are many counties in this country, a majority, that have no abortionists. there are no longer in business. the grisly business of dismembering and chemical poisoning unborn children has

become increasingly offensive to health-care providers and they want none of it. [applause] later on in new jersey, i will be focusing on the culture of life. martin luther king's these will be there. she will be the headliner. -- martin luther king's niece. here is a woman, a civil rights leader in her own right who had two abortions. now she is passionately pro- life. now she says, how can michael, martin luther king, how can the dream survive -- how can my uncle's dream survive if we murder the children?

she says that we need a society that reaches out to post- abortive women and six opportunities for reconciliation. studies clearly show women who have had abortions needing long- term psychological and are more prone to clinical depression and other abuses. prematurity and risk -- another study out of canada, 35% increase and low birth rate babies. there is a breast cancer connection. abortion is bad for women. it hurts women great exploits women. it destroys children. [applause] evita king calls each and everyone of us, also those who are maybe in the middle to hear this through some other means,

c-span, dr. king calls out to say stop the enabling of this gross exploitation of women and this terrible, terrible killing of unborn children by dismembering and by chemical poisoning. abortion is not health care. [applause] >> good morning greeted i am privileged to represent the sixth district of georgia. i serve on this panel with an representative chris smith and rep bachmann. did you notice he did allow that without a teleprompter? [applause] michele said i stole her line,

and i did. this is a town hall, right? i am proud to be in a room full of patriots. [applause] we have incredible challenges before us as a nation, you all know that. as a position, health care is front and center in what -- and one of the most major issues that we must confront as a nation. as a physician, i have looked at the democrat bills and i have read most of them including the 1000 plus page monstrosity. if they were medical treatment, they would be guilty of malpractice. [applause] we're currently confronted with a truly the farthest reach of government in decades. this debate that we're having about health care really is not

about health care, is it? it is about freedom. it is about freedom and principal. we lived in the greatest nation of the history of the world. we have the honor and the blessing because we have stuck to principle. one would think then when we were challenged with significant problems that we would embrace a fundamental american principles. instead, now have a group that is running absolutely in the opposite direction. i want to talk, principals in health care. think about what your principles are. you all have them. everyone has principles. most people have the top three -- four of the vote -- affordability, accessibility to get into the system, and quality. affordability, accessibility, and quality. i had responsiveness' but is we need to have a system to respond

to patients. innovation, which is not talked about a whole lot, but we must absolutely to concede to incentivize so we have the greatest health care system in the world. finally, choices because you need to be able to choose who is treating you, what kind of treatment you receive, when you were treated. those are my six principles. affordability, accessibility, quality, responsiveness, innovation, and choices. i would suggest to you that whatever your principals in health care are, none of them are approved by the intervention of the federal government. none. [applause] what are the solutions? will -- well, we have them. are charged our members with coming up with positive, upbeat,

optimistic, for thinking solutions to embrace fundamental american principles. does exist for every single challenge that we face. we have offered a bill, h.r. 3400, that solves the challenge of the uninsured by giving them refundable credits, and vance will refundable credits, tax equity to purchase insurance so that every american has the financial incentive to purchase health insurance. we shall solve the pre-existing conditions. you might -- you should not lose your insurance if you change your job. you can do that, not by putting the government in charge but by making robust cooling decisions to have the purchase power of millions to purchase the insurance that you and your family want not the one that the government wants for you. as a principle, we have to write into law that patients and

families and doctors are the ones making medical decisions, not the federal government. h.r. 3400 addresses the issue of lawsuit abuse. we have to solve the challenge of lawsuit abuse. [applause] it does so in a way that allows for individuals to have appropriate redress but that things are heard by people who actually know what it is a to take care of patients. we could do all these things without raising your taxes by one penny. [applause] if you are interested in stopping the government takeover of health care, please go to petitionpelosi.com, side petition, let us know you are on

our side. i cannot think you enough for the work that each and everyone of you do every single day. let me close with my favorite quotes from samuel adams. it does not take a majority to prevail, but a tireless minority. i am honored to help you set those brush fires of our freedom. god bless you. [applause] >> it is so unfair to follow these two great guys. there's no one in the american congress who has worked more to change in the culture of life and chris smith from new jersey. he has been a great leader for all of us. dr. tom price who has spent five years in congress is now the head of the republican study committee, the conservative arm

of the republicans in congress, what an honor to have him here. i am grateful to be their little sister, so to speak, joining them on the panel today. it is an honor. i want to put a little caveat and. i want to talk to you about what you have seen happening on the acorn issue. we had a vote to stop there funding. yesterday we took a vote in the house to stop funding for acorn. the offered a motion to recommit an amendment, if you will, that would defund acorn in an education bill. a housing bill in the senate, an education bill in the house. are these two bills going to come together to actually defund acorn? as we stand here today, they have yet to be defunded one

dime. there are continuing to roll as they always have. recognize that our president, who is a former attorney for the umbrella of acorn, he has within his power to direct the housing and urban development department to stop branson now if he wanted to to acorn. are the calls. you are an action group. we need to make these calls to members of congress, senate, and the white house to demand no political gamesmanship. do not try to make yourself look good. really do something. we do not like the promotion of child prostitution and illegal aliens coming into our country. stop it now. would you do that darks [applause]

-- would you do that? you are an intelligent group. , to talk about positive solutions. it is insulting that when we hear republicans do not have positive solutions. we have all sorts of positive solutions. it is very easy to understand. we have 1018 pages of the democrats' plan. we heard the president in his speech in the joint session to tell us there were some large details that had not been worked out yet in his plan. some large details that, just trust me, we will get it right. just pass the bill and we will take care of the rest. one of them is that your taxes go up in january and the health care benefits to not start until three or four years from now. were you aware of that? we will see about getting additional health-care three or four years down the road.

i also wanted to mention our positive alternative. rather than the federal government owning your health care, rather than your employer awning your health care, you on your health care just like you on your car insurance, house insurance. you can band together with whoever you want, teachers, farmers, real jurors, may be a credit union. you bind together in your geographical area to have purchasing power. you on your own health care and bind it together whoever you want to purchase health care. that you can purchase anywhere you want. today, the federal government gives a partial monopoly to insurance companies in every

state in the country. this is something the federal government can get rid of to cost no tax money. you on your health care, bind together with whoever you want for purchasing power, buy it from anywhere you want, anyone you want, in any amount you want, and then we let you use tax-free money that you have set aside. anything over and above you can deduct on your income tax return. then we have a true lawsuit reform. that style -- that sells 95% of our health care problems -- that solves. it is called freedom. it is called freedom. thank you so much. we look forward to your questions. [applause] >> did i not tell you i have the greatest job in the world? this is change you can believe in. if we have three- three mics.

lineup, behave like gentlemen, treat everyone with respect. yes, sir? >> what can we do to make certain that loss of reform is included? that did not mention that issue. we signed a card to send in that as long as doctors are terrified of not ordering expensive tests and practice defensive medicine, the affordability factor will always be an issue regardless of what other reforms are included. >> it is noticeably absent, very noticeably absent, from what is making its way through congress. back in ronald reagan's presidency, there was a very well founded attorney-general report that recommended capping

and having a sliding scale for attorney fees to take the incentive to bring frivolous lawsuits or to settle which drives up the premiums for other kinds of areas. twice in the republican party, we have offered bills that pass in the house of representatives that would have capped that at two under $50,000 -- $250,000. there ought to be the ability to sue, but it needs to be reasonable. unfortunately, that is nowhere to be found in the obamacare. >> lawsuit abuse reform is not just the cost of the malpractice insurance for hospitals but it is the cost of defensive medicine which is

literally hundreds of billions of dollars. those of the tests, examinations, procedures they perform in order to make sure that day are absolutely 100% certain that they have done everything they can to make a diagnosis or to treat something. if they find themselves in a court of law, they are able to say that they have done everything they could. that adds hundreds of billions of dollars. acorn. i say that because look at what has happened over the last week. the american people understood and they raised their voices and a stop -- and said to stop this madness. both chambers passed a bill to stop it -- without the major media markets. [applause] the solution once again will not come from washington but from america. when the american people demand

it it will happen. [applause] >> again, trust but verify. he talked about how he was directing the health and human services secretary to implement a pilot program on tort reform. we have already had a pilot program and it is called the state of texas. they did a wonderful job of lawsuit reform and actually saw medical costs come down and we know it works. the proof is in the legislation. the president made no mention -- that he was going to include tort reform on less it was words on a sheet of paper to go into the bill, it is not going to happen. that is why i told you about the boats that took place this week on acorn. they are political"c.y.a."

votes. they were night -- there were nice words, but it means nothing if it will actually not result in tort reform. put your money where your mouth is and put the language in the health-care bill. that is what we have to do. i am before " -- former trial lawyer and i believe in tort reform. [applause] >> hello. i heard the term monopoly used about the difference between regional and national health insurance. my question is how to overcome -- and i am really questioning this. how do you overcome the mandates of certain states, which i think tax -- which i think the nationalization of mandating coverage as? there are sex change surgery is

that are mandated and some states but not others. as a contract to contracts negotiated there are cheaper -- excuse me, new jersey is. use of of this. they have mandates that we do not have in ohio. how do you overcome that? >> minnesota is the state that i represent. it is the no. 1 state for mandates. we have 70. you cannot buy an insurance policy unless all of these mandates are filled. address of the cost of health care. if we would remove this federal law, it creates these private monopolies and states would be competing with each other. if you have a very high level of mandates in one state, but below mandates in another, you could buy an insurance policy from the states that have low mandates. some states may decide have zero mandates.

if that is the case, the origination of insurance policies will skyrocket. that is called competition and free enterprise. that is called capitalism. that is something that michael moore does not know about. why not try that option before a $2 trillion monstrosity destroys the greatest help bridge a greatest health care system -- monstrosity destroys the greatest health care system? >> i must play the devil's advocate with this question. we are asked to sign this yellow card that says there shall be no denial of medical treatment based on age, disability, or quality of life. i am a physician, just like you dr. price, and i have seen people over the age of 90 receiving corps noreen bypasses

that predicted to add maybe t b -- 2-3 months to their life but to the cost of $150,000. i have seen patients with terminal cancer and advanced alzheimer's put on chronic dialysis. against indications of the profession, how you deal with that, dr. price? is there supposed to be rationing in some of those cases or not? >> a great question. it gets to the fundamental question and a principal of who ought to be making decisions about have countrymen's -- about health care treatments. the decisions about what kind of treatment you receive it or i receive or anyone receives what to be between patients, families, and doctors only. [applause] how does that relate to this

question and why did these things happen? these kinds of treatments happen, not necessarily because the patient or the doctor once said, but because of the system in which we find ourselves where each of them feel it is the only option that they have. especially the providers who believe they have to offer absolutely every form of treatment for the sixth cousin four times removed decides if they sue. before this onslaught of a lawsuit lottery and government intrusion into the practice of medicine, you sit down with the families as a caring and compassionate physician to say these are the options available, these are the pros and cons, and let the family, patient, and the physician make the decision without the threat of someone over their heads. [applause]

>> rep price, that leads to my question. my daughter has a special needs. that sounds a lot like the help savings account. -- health savings account. i would be interested in hearing about that. under obama ofcare, be able to take my daughter the 2.5 hours one way we drive to get the best coverage we can find if obamacare is ram through by democrats? >> again, a wonderful question because it gets to the specifics of what does it mean for you and your family. the honest answer is we do not know given the current bill because it provides so much power to individuals that are defined in the bill like the health corp. - the house chores

czar. those answers are not readily available for the bill itself which is why you have to give back to the principle of who ought to be making these decisions. these decisions should not be made by the federal government. that is where we ought to be. [applause] whatever happens in washington, you would retain the opportunity and privilege and a right for you to be able to make this medical decisions. >> given the constitutional intent in the 10th amendment, what are we even considering any involvement in health care at all from the national government? [applause]

>> a lot of people are answering that question -- asking them questioned. we have seen a resurgence to the constitution of the united states. they're reading article one, section 8 understanding that congress has enumerated, ltd. powers. there is nothing about running health care and in that health care. you are exactly right. part of the reason we are at this so-called crisis is because government spends about 47 cents of every $1 on health care. government has come so far in treating into the area of health care that they are kind of the big dog in the room now. what we want to do is try to change that model so that you on more of your health care and have more choices, more control over what you need to have in

the future. that is the debate that we need to have. have the executive, congress, and the supreme court acted within their constitutional limitations, we would not have the current problems we have in our country. [no audio] [applause] -- [applause] >> the role must be limited, carefully prescribed. medicare and medicaid do provide a valuable service. i'm a great believer in medicare advantage which allows the private sector insurance to be much more involved in the management of the care of our senior citizens and those who are disabled. what i am concerned about obamacare is that it is reckless.

i chair four different caucuses including the all summer caucus, co-chair of the autism caucus -- all summer caucus. them becoming a co-conspirator on the amount of the dollars that would be suspended and the ability to limit, and thereby get a-adverse of consequences, is there in neon lights. look at canada and the united kingdom and other places where the outcomes for cancer and a myriad of other diseases and disabilities are far less than in the united states. the private sector plays a valuable role and i think we need to have a mix like medicare but it needs very, very careful establishment. this new expansion which will very quickly lead to socialized care, two-thirds on private

health care and insurance will be dumped into the public option and that is about one under 14 million people who already have private insurance who could lose it under obama care. >> waste, fraud, and abuse in medicare and medicaid is not new. what i do not understand is why this administration has waited nine months into their administration to address this and only then as part of their efforts to contain the cost of their proposal. my question is medical malpractice lawsuits cost millions and add millions of dollars to the cost of health care. i do not understand, and maybe someone could can answer this question, why the democrats have

not addressed this in their proposal. >> i think howard dean said it best. he said the reason we're not dealing with the liability is because we do not want to take on the trial lawyers. that is what he said. he made it very clear. this was a political calculation on their part. there are two big constituent groups that the democrats believe put them into power, the unions and trial lawyers. they're not going to offend them. the rationale is political and the american people know that and understand that. there are gaining greater confidence in standing up and saying this cannot be solved without liability reform. >> regarding waste, fraud, and abuse, the same people who put together medicare, who put

together a system where president obama said it has literally hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse, these people are going to be in charge of expanding the same system to the rest of us. for 85% of the american people who already have health insurance and say in survey after survey that it is working pretty well. we're going to destroy with 85% of the people have to be able to expand government care to an additional 15% to rid a large percent of them can r.d. afford to purchase health care but choose not to. there are eligible for government programs to choose not to go on them. we're going to destroy some in the works for 85% of the people to mandate that another 15% have it. i think the waste, fraud, and abuse question, why do we just not extract the abuse that is there? why do we not just pull that out

and start from there? [applause] >> i chaired the house committee on veterans affairs and we oversee the largest coordinated integrated health-care network in the world. we always had oversight hearings,probes to find the waste, fraud, and abuse. there are problems out there. there is a problem, but in no way will the savings be accrued that some think if we just throw the word around like it is a slogan. dr. price is absolutely right about defensive medicine is causing waste, maybe not fraud and abuse, but waste and tort reform is the quickest way to lessen that waste. [applause]

what's the question i have is if the federal government is not mandated in the constitution to do anything with health care, why it isn't congress standing up and saying, no we do not have the right to do this via our constitution and we will not even discuss it? doocy any possibility of that happening? -- do you see any possibilty? >> the house is a majoritarian institutions. the speaker can do pretty much whatever she wants. the checks and balances that we have in our form of government need to work in order to make sure that one branch of government does not exceed its bounds. that is where we are right now. it is why the american people have a concern because they do not see any checks and balances here in washington. the speaker can move as rapidly as she wants on what ever is

year she wants. she does has to keep people in line. if there is no check in the executive branch because we have no confidence there be any veto on anything that resembled a violation of the constitution in this arena, then the redress is through the courts agreed that takes a significant amount of time as well as an uncertain outcome given that many of the courts we have right now. at the fact of the matter, the check and balance that we have right now is the best check and balances and that is the american people. when the american people rise up, as i believe it will, over the coming 14 months to say timeout. we're going to institute a program checks and balances coming november 2010. [applause] there is an economist from arizona state university who did

a study and he said that prior to the inception of up bailout nation, in other words < one year ago, 100% of private business profits or private. since the inception of bailout nation, he has calculated that with all of the government takeovers and the current mentality that runs the washington d.c., 30% of private business profits are now owned or controlled by the federal government. if president obama and the liberals that dominate the congress have their way, an additional 18% of private wealth created in the health-care industry will be owned or controlled by the federal government which would be 48% of private business profits. that does not include the vote we took yesterday in the house. the united states house voted to do away with all private lending for student loans.

instead it is now a public option. remember, 30 years ago of student loans were private and then congress put in a public option for student loans. as of yesterday, congress said that we do not want any private loans. yesterday, your congress took a nationalization of all student loans. that is the direction we are in. we haven't even yet passed us taking over the industry -- the energy industry. this is very serious, what is happening. the government takeover of private business profits. it that is why you see polls of the american people so uncertain. they're not just making this up. these are not courts acted rationally. these are common-sense decisions people are making because they

realize we're losing something precious at a speed never before seen. [applause] >> i would add that if you want to see change in washington, you have to make the change. if i can just show for one second, we have a reception tonight to make sure that congressman like these three are who are representing the nation in congress and not people like nancy pelosi. >> it has been said that the main roadblock to this legislation are the blue dog democrat. i actually happen to think it is the pro-life democrats. i also read on a blog that there were reaming the pro-life democrats after a vote. are you all confident that the pro-life democrats are not want to have their arms twisted by

pelosi and they're not going to not waver from this? more specifically, what are you all as republicans doing? if there is a new group in the congress it -- it is the courageous, pro-life democrats. [applause] >> bart stupack from a michigan is the democratic chair and has been absolutely valiant, brave, courageous, and very smart. they crafted an amendment that would take abortion completely out from obamacare. their amendments initially won in the committee, amazingly, only to have a parliamentary maneuver called, arms twisted, and they were able to eke out a

very small, narrow victory. on the caps amendment, a pro- abortion amendment. i agree with the questioner that the pro-life democrats, and there are fewer now than when we went through this trial withhill -- with hillarycare. they were magnificent. there were standing there saying we would not be part of the greatest expansion of abortion in the united states history since roe v. wade. these people have signed letters to the speaker and to the president saying that they will not vote for obamacare unless all of the pro-life problems, the pro-abortion problems, have been rectified. your call for prayer, art is a very principled lawmaker. -- bart is very principled.

we see in front of the scenes is bad enough. he is not well-liked by certain members of the democratic coalition so he needs our prayers, our support, and he is a very, very courageous man and i greatly admire him. thank you for that. >> let me take one minute. i would be remiss if i did not say that the opportunity have that the blue dogs have to show backbone is because of the republican congress standing united against this remarkable government takeover of health care. it is imperative to remember that every single blue dog voted for nancy pelosi to be speaker of the house. that is the individual who sets the agenda for the house of representatives. we have begged, urged, pleaded, cajoled, prayed for, and lifted them up but at every single turn

our hopes have been dashed. i hope that the prayers of this room and the prayers of the nation would give them the fortitude and courage to finally stand up to their leadership to say no more will we allow this travesty to go on. [applause] >> we are running short on time, we will the iraq would fire around. >> under obamacare, what is the fate of our health savings accounts and with the republican plans alternatives, what with that -- how would that affect the health savings accounts? >> the bill in the house of representatives, after five years, all health insurance would have to fit a very specific set of standards about which have savings accounts would not comply. health savings accounts, flexible savings accounts, cafeteria plans would not only be unavailable but they would be

illegal. that is the consequence of h.r. 3200. the senate bill is not a specific and we will see how it moves forward. the goal of these individuals, make no mistake, they go is to have the federal government taking over health care in this nation. >> there is only one question we have to ask ourselves on any of these bills -- who will have more control over health care? will it be government or will it yourself? that is all you have to ask on any of these bills. you will enjoy the control? i want to mention one of our colleagues recall in from taxes to put together a great graphic. you can go to gop.gov and any of our web sites. it is a graphic that shows the new bureaucracy that would be created under obamacare. 53 new bureaucracies. put yourself, your spouse, your parents on one side of the graphic input your doctor on this side, the surgery you need,

the drugs, the devices you need and think that you have to fight through 53 different your rocker sees to get to the goals of health care -- 53 different bureaucracies. it is the irs who will be enforcing this a system under obamacare. how you like them apples? the irs would be the enforcement mechanism. >> i think you just got their attention. [laughter] >> may i say thank you for your service, representatives met. -- rep smith. [applause] id a pro-life republican in new jersey is like finding issued in damascus. it is not safe. -- finding a jew in damascus.

i want a job but i do not want any pay. during the summer i moved to georgia. both you and bachmann are on mind new web site. i have been practicing for 40 years as a trial lawyer and i have nothing to do. i want something to do. i went down to georgia and met judge dawson jackson who swore me in. i came to jordan because i want to help you. >> god bless you. thank you. -- i came to georgia because i want to help you. >> i need help in minnesota, so, upgrade >> come back to jersey. >> bugle us. -- google us. >> my question is really about

the democrats right now and their willingness to go this alone and a strong mark this program through. -- strong arm this through. if they get this through, how we wrote it back in 2010 and 2012? -- how do we roll it back? >> is a strong arm this through, the american people will not only allow the house of representatives to be led by a responsible republican and make certain we move the nation in the right direction, but the senate will be run by republicans as well. the specific answer is twofold. once we have the appropriate checks and balances, we have a great a virginity to sit down with president obama and say we are happy to talk about these issues, but first we need to repeal the tyranny passed last session. . .

>> i started drinking and doing drugs after the abortions, which led to a car accident. i wanted to know what i can do to help. >> you are so beautiful.

[applause] my dear, beautiful friend, you already have. you have told the world, and that is the beautiful story for every woman. there is forgiveness. there is a way forward. there is life after. thank you for being willing to share your story. we love you. thank you very much. >> i would like to thank all of you and thank our distinguished guests. who would have thought three panelists, politicians, and we

wound up on time. thank you all, and god bless. ♪ >> thank you, everybody. it was amazing when obama and gave his speech last week, a totally ignoring the hundreds of thousands of citizens who showed up at town hall meetings to express their concerns. we need to tell the president you cannot put enough lipstick on that page when it comes to health care. -- on that pig. the longest serving senator in kentucky's history, when he was

elected in 1984, he was the only republican to defeat a democratic incumbent. last november, he received more votes in his reelection than anyone in the history of kentucky. they like him in kentucky. he is the former majority whip, they do love him in kentucky, and we're honored to have him. will you please welcome senator mitch mcconnell. ♪ >> thank you very much. it is a pleasure to be here this morning, and i appreciate the opportunity and welcome all the. it is great to be here with so

many folks who chairs the values that make our nation great. who are not afraid to say so. no, it is not always easy. our friends on the left like to think they are the party of inclusion, and yet we have seen time and time again how quickly they can turn on someone to express -- who expresses a different point of view. we have seen it with entertainers or sports figures who speak up about their beliefs. we have seen it happen in washington to qualified judicial nominees who believes the constitution means what it says. we have seen it for candidate to take an unpopular position, and we are seeing it today with the debate on health care. ordinary americans speaking their minds, ridiculed by people in power.

the reason they are doing this is clear. because we are winning the argument. at town hall meetings last month we saw the wisdom of ordinary americans, and i know many of you are in this room. you know who these protesters were because you were the people at this town halls. you were the people who were there. asking the right questions, reminding your representatives what a true democracy is. you were the men and women who filled the mall in the district to overflowing last saturday, surprising even -- [applause] surprising even the strongest supporters of the event. you are the people who approved the politicians wrong when they say all this activism and the

rest was crafted in a boardroom on k street. the activism is not on astroturf as they like to put it. it is something that started at their kitchen tables and living room. it was born out of a cent -- of urgency about future. it was underwritten by you, not a public relations firm in washington. why did you do it? why did you and millions travel to the mall or wait in line at town halls from one end of the country to the other in the august heat? because you believe as i do that there is something special about america. you worried that week -- we may be one more bailout away, one more form away from losing our way as a nation, of the people, for the people, and by the

people. these words have been building for a long time, even before last year postelection. they have reached a new level in recent months. as soon as democrats in congress decided to move forward with health care plan that would put the government in charge of one sixth of our economy, it which would lead to the same kind of denial and rationing we have seen in every single other country that has adopted a government-run health care system, if the american people literally rose up. yet, rather than address the concerns of all of you, the organized left is a tempting to dismiss you as scaremongers or worse. i have a couple of questions for the white house and its allies in congress. if americans who like the care they have can keep it under the democratic plan, then why did a democratic senator from florida come to the senate floor this week to say he plans to fight

hard to keep his constituents from getting kicked off their medicare plans? if the bill allows them to keep the coverage, then why is he fighting? if the bill does not allow government-funded abortion, then why won't our democratic friends allow a brought a blanket prohibition on federal funding of any type for abortion in this bill? the fact is there are multiple avenues for government-funded abortion in these reform proposals, either directly to our government-run plan, or indirectly through subsidies to private plans. this is wrong. the vast majority of americans strongly oppose government- funded abortions, and on this issue we will keep up the pressure until your sources are heard. -- your voices are heard.

we know most americans are, and- cents conservatives, and most of the people running our government in washington are not. that is what the legislation they propose so rarely does what its name suggests. i cannot think of a better example than the employee free choice act. here is a bill that is meant to make it harder for workers to do with the want to do. to inhibit their freedom. on this issue and on many others we can call their agenda what it is. the american people agree with us. we're starting to see the results. on health care, we have had a simple message -- the democratic plan costs too much, asks seniors and small businesses to pay for it, and leads to take over health care where care is denied, the lead, and rationed.

we have put forward better ideas for reform like getting rid of junk lawsuits against doctors and hospitals. promoting wellness and prevention and giving individuals the same tax benefits as big corporations get for buying health insurers. on this issue are impact on the debate is undeniable. it is impossible to deny the crowd was all in august or last week on the national mall despite the best efforts of many in the mainstream media to dismiss the critics. today, i can probably tell you more americans now oppose the democratic plan than support it. [applause] on national security, it is undeniable we have been heard on national security. common-sense conservatism has

reshaped the debate on guantanamo. in january the administration said it would close guantanamo in a year. without ever providing any details about how to do it. republicans repeatedly asked the administration for answers and said it would be irresponsible to close guantanamo without a safe alternative. now the american people and even a vast majority of democrats agree with us and oppose closing guantanamo without a plan. on spending and debt, concerted impact on the debate over taxes and that is also undeniable. we told anyone who listened that the administration was spending, taxing, and borrowing too much for our nation to bear. in the first 50 days, the administration's packs have cost the american taxpayer -- 50 days the administration's actions cost the american taxpayer more than iraq,

afghanistan, and ikatrina come by. the budget the proposed and passed doubles the national debt in five years and triples its in 10. the biggest government spending spree ever in the middle of a recession. we have hammered away at this whistle spending and debt and people are beginning to listen. they're worried about it and beginning to question the predictions they are hearing from the administration. the democrats who run the white house and congress have offered more spending, taxes, and government control. we must not go in that direction. we must turn the tide. our job is to keep our message loud and to keep it clear. that is for the family research council and concerned citizens everywhere come in. we need to multiplied our voices in the public square.

that takes work, and the family research council has played a vital role in doing that work and showing americans that common-sense conservative this offer the best solutions to the problems we face as a nation. when the american people hear the ideas and alternatives we are offering, the overwhelmingly support us. the key is making sure our ideas and our messages are heard. with your help, they will be, and they must be. the stakes are too high. the consequences are too serious. too often in history we have seen how the expansion of government can lead to the contraction of liberty. that is why groups like the family research council are so important. you remind us that faith, family, and freedom come first and that a nation that schurz's both will not lose its way.

we cannot let an ever expanding government stifled the american dream, and i can tell you with your help, we will not. thank you so much. thank you. ♪ >> all right, and now coming is a popular congressman representing the seventh district of the state of virginia. in december he was elected to serve as the republican whip. he holds a seat on the house ways and means committee. this has direct jurisdiction over taxes, trade, social security, medicare, prescription

drugs for seniors, health care, and welfare reform. he has got a very important message for you this morning. he serves as chairman of the congressional task force on terrorism and unconventional warfare. from the state of virginia, where you please welcome congressman eric cantor. ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much for having me. it is a true honor to be here. first, i would like to thank you for being here and for fighting on the front lines of what we know is truly a battle for our democracy.

i am from virginia, where a story is often told of a baptist pastor who was urgently advising his congregation's, and he asked, does everyone here wants to go to heaven? they said, yes, pastor, and he asked again, you really want to go to heaven? they said, yes, pastor. he said, the you really want to could happen? and on guilt, yes, pastor. and so he said stand up if you really want to go to heaven. and so all the congregants stood up except for one man on the front row. and the pastor looked at him and said, brother smith, don't you want to go to heaven? and the guy said, sure, i do, pastor, but i was kind of afraid that you were getting a load together to the right now. well, my friends, we do need

your help right now. the battle for our democracy is being fought today, this hour, in the halls of congress and throughout the 435 congressional districts across this country. we must win this battle to change the troubling course america is now on. let me spell it out, i think, in a little bit more detail why it is so important. if you go with me for a second and imagine a hospital room, where a man is in bed with his family all around. he has been in and induced coma for a year, and the doctors are just beginning to wake him up. his eyes flutter and then open,

and everyone cheers. he says, i feel like i have missed so much. tell me, tell me what is going on in the world. and his wife says, well, we're in a bad recession, our government owns the biggest car company, and controls the banks, we're talking directly to north korea and iran while they develop nuclear weapons, and we are on our way to a government takeover of our health care system. unbelievable, the man says. i went into a coma in america and then wake up in sweden. can you relate? right now, millions of americans are waking up, realizing that they do not recognize their own country anymore. for more than 200 years, we believed in limited government,

and now people in washington are seeking on limited power -- unlimited power. for more than to the years we believed in peace through strength, and now people in washington believe in fighting terror by talking. for more than 200 years, we have believed in face, freedom, and family, and now people in the washington art tearing at our foundation and trying to replace it with the latest social whim or pseudoscientific theory. our foundation in america was built on traditional values, like the marriage of one man and one woman. our values, our foundation in america was built upon the

sanctity of all human life for -- from fertilization until natural death. the left has whittled away at these values, slowly, but surely, and now has majorities in both houses of congress and holds the white house. we have witnessed them striking down one protection after another, overturning the mexico city policy, reversing the protections for pro-life health care professionals, to forcing you, the tax payer, the fund the destruction of human life in the name of science. we have heard threats from the left in washington and beyond, that they will move to overturn marriage protections currently in place, that they will force religious businesses to set aside their values in determining who they hire.

the left has also racked up the debt to every family at a frightening rate. they say if you want to measure your values, take a look at your registered in your checkbook. well, if you have looked at the nation's check book, it is a terrible picture of what we've found you. when we republicans were in charge, the last eight years, we made the mistake of overspending and trying to buy support. it failed, and the people fired us. but the democrats in nine short months have made us look like ebenezer scrooge on welfare. in just a few months, they have doubled the projected national debt and quadrupled the deficit. by the time they are gone, we will be paying $1 billion a day

on debt service. the nation's credit card is maxed out to the tune of $483,000 per household. that is a bill 10 times the annual household income. some say it is like having a mortgage 10 times your in come with no house to show for it. and as if that was not bad enough, our credit card company, communist china. here is one of the most important points, though. the nation's fiscal policy and its family policy are two sides of the same coin. what is good for the long-term economy is good for families. what is bad for the long-term economy is bad for families.

if you look at the derivation of the word "economy," it is household management. economic policy is managing our house well. regan was record the most important decisions in america are made around the kitchen table, and washington needs to make decisions based on the same values. under the current leadership, nothing can be further from the truth. here is the path that they and the left have taken. first, they missed characterized the problem. then, they over governmentalized the solution. then they over promised results. part of their sales pitch to get us to take the plunge. then, when it does not work, they overtax to cover the

mistake, as if just a little more money or government is all we need to achieve. tonight, at sundown, begins one of the holiest periods of the jewish calendar. it begins with roger sean, meaning the head of the year appeared for jewish families, it is a time of contemplation and introspection. we begin this. called the days of awe, looking back at our relationships, attitudes, to see where we may have sinned or where we could have done better. i would encourage all of us to do the same for just a moment. like the guy in a hospital, weakening from his coma. we are waking up in a country we barely recognize. a limited government spending,

social changes that undermined our moral foundation, unprecedented power grabs that threaten the concept of free enterprise. the future of the america that we know and love hangs in the balance. are calling is to dedicate ourselves to the right thing of a new future for america, -- writing a new future for america. in the book of ecclesiastes, solomon wrote, the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. we do know that the best way to win an argument is to begin by being right.

we have the facts on our side. we know what is at stake. now we have to work hard and organize and fight in such a way that we can continue to prove that these facts and that these stakes are important to the rest of america. let me close with the words of president abraham lincoln, the founder of the republican party, a man who studied kaput abraham, moses, and solomon. he said, the probability that we may fall in this struggle ought not to deter us from support of a cause that we believe to be just. it shall not deter me. we believe that our cause is just. let us examine ourselves and

make the necessary commitment to the struggle. the battle is great, and the numbers work against us. if we fall, we fall. but we shall not be deterred, for if we win, we win for the cause of faith, family, and freedom, and the restoration of a nation that we all know and love. thank you, all, very, very much, and god bless. ♪ >> i want to mention about a film we will be showing tonight by the heritage foundation, and let me share very quickly about that before we bring on our last

speaker. the heritage foundation will be showing the film around 8:15, and i encourage everyone to attend this filming. it is called "33 minutes." last week we commemorated the anniversary of 9/11. there are at least 20 countries that have ballistic missile capacity. this film is extremely well done, and i strongly urge you to attend tonight, and they will be setting up a panel from the heritage foundation, where you can ask questions about the film. it is a whole new world. that was what was leading the usa today on the very front cover, the transition from the bush administration to the obama administration, as it relates to

this issue. so we urge you all to please attend this very, very important meeting. endicott 15. will you like to meet carrie prejean, our miss america. let me introduce her. when you please welcome the president of the national organization for marriage, nancy gallagher. >> i am a woman standing between you and carrie prejean, so i will be brief. i just want to remind you of what you all know, what an extraordinary young woman and what an extraordinary moment it was when he got to know carrie prejean. i remember it vividly because it was in the middle of a sudden,

inexplicable push for gay marriage, which is not high on the list of the voter's prairies'. it became clear, it was in the moments and months after the victory, the great victory in california as well as the victories in florida and arizona. as some of you may have cause to know, a tidal wave of licensed hatred was unleashed after our victory, directed at people who had gathered people lee -- peacefully to participate in our democratic process, and there is no civil rights more important than the right to speak to organize, donate politically in a peaceful way. the goal of this hatred is to silence. also, to separate and isolate, so that americans who know in their hearts that marriage is to use it -- union of husband and

right -- wife, might be a free to speak about that, and people are afraid to say it becomes an idea that does not matter. in the middle of this fight, when we are thinking of -- developing some sort of advertisement campaign that can make this a visible, which is happening on game marriage, of a sudden i hear i'd get out carrie prejean, and i was not watching the miss usa pageant, and it was an extraordinarily moving moment watching what happened on that stage. carey told me once she does not like to watch that did it take, and she does not like it for the same reason i found it so moving. which ec happening before your eyes is a young woman -- what you see happening before your eyes is a young woman who was trying -- she worked really hard to become miss usa and use that

clause, and then this questions come -- this question comes up. you see that she probably will not get that tiara, and you can see her begin to think, is there some way that i can fudge this, because i really, really want that crown. then he see her very quickly come to the recognition that this is a test of her faith, this is a test of her integrity, and she comes to the conclusion that she has to speak truth to power. she has to say -- [applause] thank you. carrie prejean deserves it. no offense to anybody, but i think marriage should be between a man and woman, and that is what i believe. and then the hatred turned on her personally in a way that if you have not been there it is

hard to supplies and understand exactly what it means. i remember in the process of going on television and defending her, i was in a green room, and the other guest was not on for this segment. he was a movie reviewer from hollywood, but he wanted to talk to me about her. this is really unusual. in the green room, it is unseemly to be doing the debate in the locker room there. he turned to me, and he said, with venom in his voice, carrie prejean is going to die broken, alone, like anita bryant. and i looked at him and said, why would you wish that on a beautiful young woman like this? and the amazing thing is that through it all, through this incredible, inexplicable to most

normal people hatred directed at her for being such a kind and gristle and loving voice for marriage -- and graceful and loving voice for marriage, carrie prejean made visible was happening and how she would -- how we which deal with that. she gave the lie to the idea that the american people have turned on the marriage issue and they did not care about it. the give the lie to the idea that the future belongs to those who believe in gay marriage. she is a representative not only of herself, but millions of other young people in california and elsewhere who are the future of our movement and the future of america. she speaks -- she speaks to what is best in all of us, whether you agree with her or disagree with her on the marriage issue, but most of us agree with her, right? [applause]

i do not know what carrie prejean will be called to do in the featured she has a book coming out. it is called "still standing," because it is the truth. whenever god calls her to do, whether in her work with special olympics. she has a ministry and a deep heart and a lot of hands-on love for working with disabled americans and particularly the athletes in the special olympics, whether it is as a spokesperson for christ in the world to the next generation, whether it is simply as a role model, what do you do when you -- when people try to make you afraid to speak up for your deepest values? i know what ever got is calling her to do that she will obey the most frequently repeated command in the gospels -- be not afraid.

god bless you, carrie prejean, thank you, it is a privilege to be here and share this moment for you. thanks. ♪ >> thank you so much. i am so honored to be here. thank you so much for having me. maggie pretty much said it all, so thank you, maggie. this is so exciting. i am so excited to be here in washington, d.c. this has been a whirlwind of defense -- events. it has been absolutely crazy. starting off with this whole

thing, all i was was just a strong woman entering into a pageant. i always do that about myself. i always knew who i was as a person, i always new matt -- knew that, as long as i remembered my values, morals, and the way that i was raised to get through anything. i want to say thank you so much to the thousands of americans who have believed in me, have supported me, who have been through this fight with me. i cannot thank you enough. i want to talk to you about who i am as a person. i am sure a lot of you have followed me on the news and have seen my interviews and have been with me through this to this fight. what a lot of people do not know

is who i am and what made me say what i said at that pageant. i was raised by a wonderful mother and father. i was raised going to church. i was raised believing that jesus christ as my lord and savior. -- is my lord and savior. and my parents always instilled in me the values, they always taught me to fear god, that there is nothing more important in life than the way that you treat other people, and you always have to show people respect and be tolerant of other people, no matter what. don't ever be mean, don't call people names, just because they do not believe whatever you believe. so, as i entered into the hole pageantry world, i was raised being a total athlete. i was a complete shock in high school. i played four sports.

i was a varsity basketball starter. if my senior year -- junior year, i started doing pageants. when day i came home and told my mom i was in a pageant, and she looked at me as if i was out of my mind, and she said, are you sure what to do this? i said, yes, and i'm pretty sure i could do this. it is a competition, and i love competition, i love to win. she said, what you have to do? i do not have to wear a bikini. she said, ok. i entered, and from there i became so successful with it, and anything i put my mind to and anything that i was determined to do i did it, and i seemed to be so successful with pensions, not because i thought i was this beautiful person and was so conceited and in to myself, but because i always thought of pageants of doing better for the world. i've always watched this america on tv and we think of these women as women who were going to

go out there and save the world. i looked up to them, admired them, i thought they had everything. they were america's girl. they had wanted to. i looked up to that. i never thought i would be actually on a stage representing the state of california at miss usa. armored -- and remember that night as it was yesterday, being called in the top 15, the top 10, and there i was, been called into the top five at miss usa, and they asked the final question. i had made it through the swimsuit competition. i made it through the evening gown competition. the final question was the easiest person to me, because i knew who i was, i knew the way i was raised, and i could answer any question there was if i just remembered that. so, preparing for miss usa, i had studied questions.

i had studied over 500 questions. i have a pageant coach, a walking coach, a makeup coach, and because it could she could of action. i even had an accent modification coach because some people said i sounded like a was from the midwest. i do not know how i got that. anyway, there i was, standing on the stage at miss usa, been called in the top five, and i at that moment had never felt more proud in my entire life. i felt so proud of the woman that i had become, the woman that had transformed from this jock athlete did this all the sudden beauty pageant girl. that was very rare. you did not see that very often, young women normally have to choose, to have to be an athlete or a cheerleader? you can be both. you can be an athlete and the feminine at the same time.

so there i was, about to answer this question, and the moment the judge asked its, i tried to stay there and look pretty, but in my head i could not believe that they were asking that question at this usa. i cannot believe that. -- i could not believe that. i thought it was extremely inappropriate for that then you pick any other venue, it would have been all right. but at that venue i thought was extremely inappropriate. we see all the time, miss congeniality. as soon as a woman does not give the right answer, why all the sun is she over the national news, and it is a huge controversy because all this and i said marriage is between a

man am a woman? are you serious? it doesn't make any sense to me as a 22-year-old college student. as i began to answer the question, in my head i was thinking, god, why is this question being asked? you know what? i am going to do with this question, i'm going to answer it to the best of my ability, stay true to who i am, what i believe, and the way i was raised. and that is set. -- that is yeit. in all seriousness, as i was beginning to give the answer, i solve all the hard work, all the sacrifices that my parents had made, everything just flashed by me, all the preparation, the six

months that i had prepared for this pageant, and a lot of people said i was a front runner, a lot of people said california is the girl to be. i never let that get my head, but was confident. i did see it in my head. ice did see me competing for miss universe, because i knew who i was, because i knew that miss usa wanted me, i knew that they needed me, the needed a woman like me, and i do not mean to say this in an arrogant way. so as i saw pretty much my goals, dreams, aspirations for winning just flash by me, i knew god had a plan for me, and i knew -- i knew as i was beginning to say i think it's great that americans are great to choose one way or the other,

i was respecting the individual who is asking me the question, my father always taught me to be tolerant of other people, this respect, to be civil, i was honoring him, knowing he is an openly gay man, i said no offense anybody out there, but that is how i was raised and that is how i think it should be caught between a man and a woman. and i knew at that moment, i knew as soon as i said that, as sous -- as soon as i did not give the politically correct answer that there was no way i would be miss usa. at least that night. [laughter] little did i know i would be -- i feel as if i and miss universe, but --

but in all seriousness, i am so proud of the stance that i took. i'm so proud of the answer that i gave, and god chose me for that moment. he chose me for that moment because he knew that i would not only be the one to stick up for him and for the truth, but also he knew that i am strong enough to get through all the junk that i had been through. after the pageant was over, that was just the beginning. that was the beginning of a vicious, vicious storm of attacks. why me, a 22-year-old young woman who had the courage and

bravery that not many people have? i do not know why they chose to attack me. i do not know why they chose to attack my mother, my father, my 90-year-old grandmother on a daily basis. i do not know why they did not attack my sister, who was in the military. she is a second lieutenant in the air force. thank you, sis, for your service. but i knew that there was not -- there was something wrong with this situation, there was something wrong with turning on the tv and seeing people mark me through my faith, foreseeing make fun of me for the answer that i gave, making fun of me for being a christian, trying to discredit me, trying to embarrass me.

it did not make sense to me. i live in the greatest country in the world, d have never seen anything like this before. i had never seen anything like it, being a 22-year-old college student, not really into politics -- at least i wasn't at the time. [laughter] now have a new outlook on this, and i am disgusted at the way some people can be so intolerant. it disgusts me. it disgusts me. but you know what? i am here today because i am still standing, and i am not defeated.

they have not defeated me. they can say whatever they want to say about me, they can make fun of me for my face -- for my faith, they can say horrible things about my mother in the tabloids, they can and bears me by having my parents divorced -- parents' divorce records in the national media. but you know what? we as a family have never been this strong, by the grace of god, and that is one thing that they hate. that is one thing that they hate. so, to the thousands and millions of americans who have believed in me, who have followed me, and to see me for more than just a little beauty pageant girl who was supposed to say world peace, thank you.

i want to challenge you today. i want to challenge you, before i do, i want to say that we as conservatives, we need to be the example. we obviously have not seen it from the left. we need to be the example of respect, of tolerance, and just how to be simple. can we do that? i never asked to be thrown into politics. i never thought i would be speaking at a major yves and with previous presidential candidates -- major events with previous presidential candidate spree i knew that god called me for such a time as this, and even though --

even though i did not win the crown that mighnight, i know tht the lord has so much of a bigger crown in heaven for me. so, thank you. i want to challenge you. i want to challenge you, how do you want to be remembered as put the matter of what. i want to leave the legacy of

boldness and show young people, my generation. my children are going to be affected by this. i want to show people there is nothing more important than stand up for what you believe in and staying true to who you are, and staying true to those values that your parents or whoever instilled in you when you were young. no matter what you are here for today, be reminded by that on a daily basis. one of my favorite quotations is never underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word ki, all of which have that power to turn your life around. i am not a hater of anyone. this is not a matter of meeting -- hating any particular group. it is not about that. it is a i was a woman who stood

up for the truth, and people do not want to admit that. so, as i leave you today, i want to say, thank you for supporting me, thank you so much for praying for me, and for being with me in this battle. thank you, and god bless you. ♪ >> that is a modern-day esther, who stood before the judges and told the truth. interesting how her position is the exact same position articulated by barack obama, and he gets a total house, but when

a conservative makes that position, oh, my goodness. if you thought that was good, wait until you hear these announcements. i beg your patience, and then we will send off to lunch and we have a great afternoon program. very quickly, we start with a straw poll that we would love for you to participate in. it is open at the west registration until 7:00 p.m.. it is open again at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow until 1:00. we have -- >> finishing up this morning session. the voters values summit today. we can tell about coverage this afternoon. mary shapiro will be talking about current issues in the

financial markets. she is a keynote speaker at a conference. live at 1:00 eastern here on c- span. also, her remarks from a doctor, the president and ceo of the mayo clinic. he will speak about healthcare legate -- legislation. live coverage at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon on c-span2. in 1971, a writer obtained top- secret pentagon papers. later he won a pulitzer prize for it this weekend he will discuss his latest on the nuclear arms race. sunday night on c-span. >> next month, to a visit to the supreme court as we talk to the justices about the history of the court. >> brandeis said he would not

come in here. he said the building was so a leopard, it would go to their heads. it has become over time, a symbol of the court system, the need for stability, rule of law which is what america stands for. >> supreme court week, starting on october 4 on c-span. c-span offers teachers resources. >> white house news conference coming up shortly, scheduled for noon eastern. we will have at live once it gets underway. "congressional quarterly" wright's democrats are abandoning a ccorn. we spoke to their head this morning on "washington journal."

organization. now this congress has voted to country federal funding what is next? guest: of course, we don't agree with that decision and we want to see if there is a way to change it because we are trying to save people's homes and keep them in their homes. we are also trying to make sure people have affordable housing and affordable healthcare and that they are not discriminated against in housing. our work continues. we have been doing this work for 40 years. we have a half million members and we have been on the ground a very long time. so, for us it is a little disappointing. however, we think that we will ) >> how much of their funding has come from the federal government? >> we are and members of organization. our members pay dues annually.

we have private funding foundations, large donors, small donors, we do fund raising events. maybe about up to 10% annually, a very small portion. >> what has happened over the past year, last two years that has politicized acorn that has caused the census bureau to say no more? >> i think for us, it began back may be in 2004, and we were always registering folks to vote, mostly poor people, low and moderate income folks, people of color, black, latinos, and these are generally the folks who have been shut out of the electoral process, disenfranchised, millions of problems, subverting the vet.

it seems as though the previous administration's white house, mr. rove, in particular, decided that he would send out u.s. attorneys to investigate our voter registration program because we quite frankly were very effective, and as we know, we succeeded. it succeeded of -- a series of the emails say he particularly targeted us because we were so effective, and iglesias was the first u.s. attorney fired because he came back and said there was nothing there. so this continued. i guess we should have known during the last election season when the theme of the republican party was to denigrate organizing, saying president obama had been a community organizer. it was the reason, being the

largest community organization in the country, we should have realized that they would be coming for us next. . . making rumors that they would be a part of the senses, we never had a contract to canvass for the senses. there were about 80,000 people across the country, filled out a form and said, yes, we agreed

everyone should be counted. our people, our members, our constituents, black and brown folks, poor folks, everybody concedes they had been undercounted. and i think there was a fear that if we were involved, then -- and making sure every american was counted, that somehow this would be a threat because we do know that this sense is really determines a lot of power in this country. and everybody can see it that pretty soon we will be a majority-minority country and if we count everyone who has been traditionally under counted, then i think that it upsets the power. so, we are effective. we are saving people's homes every day, making sure people have good schools, good jobs, good living conditions and health care. and i think -- as that is a threat to some.

host: there has been palpable anger, overwhelming. guest: i know it may sound of rhetorical saying that this is a form of modern-day mccarthyism, but it really is. it sends a chilling effect to nonprofit communities, especially to community organizations that do the hard work every day, that if you displeased someone for you are a target and made to seem controversial, that we will cut off your funding. not just cut off your funding, but you want to be able to compete in the future. so, that gives pause to a lot of people across this country that do great work every day. and that is why this is so disturbing. it is sort of, have you now or ever been associated with acorn.

that heartens back to the mccarthy era when there was just fear everywhere. but we understand that the republicans, the right wing, that they lost the election, i guess, there has to be someone to blame. so, since they probably have not a whole lot of other stuff to do. host: santa fe, mexico. we are on with the ceo of acorn. caller: my question is how many hundreds of thousands marginalized and impoverished families have a corn helped to get a home? we have a homeless problem in america. the face of homelessness that nobody wants to see is the children. guest: i think that is a very good point. for years we fought against redlining, people being discriminated against, and were able to make sure that the

banking industry actually treated people fairly. so, we think probably about maybe 250,000 people across the country over these past 40 years would probably not have a home and be sustained in their home. someone did a study about the effectiveness of acorn and the work that we did in communities, helping people get the kind of turned income tax credits that they deserve or being first-time home buyers were being able to recover when they have been duped or discriminated against. and over the past 10 years, it was estimated that we were responsible for putting $15 billion back into low income communities. so i think that the work that we do and are still billing really

speaks to the real issue, what we should be talking about -- the lack of affordable housing across this country, and groups like acorn actually trying to address this problem in a real way. we have helped hundreds of thousands of people in many different ways. and you are right, this is what we should be talking about. host: speed in st. petersburg, fla., republican. caller: how are you doing? i am a registered republican and i have called your office in ohio before i moved down here -- laid off union worker, and if you people for help -- my unemployment ran out and you told me, no. i came down here, a friend of mine gave me enough money to come down here and rent a place for six months, i have been in touch with the floor office and they said they will not help me at all. i have zero income, exhausted all of my savings. you cannot find me a job.

you will not do anything for me. i am a taxpayer and i paid a lot of taxes up in the state of ohio. i have been in touch with your seiu -- if you have an 800 number because -- i can call, i would sure like my rent paid and i would sure like some health care from you people, and, you know, i got the numbers that you can call. if you got any way you want to do that for me, then barack obama would get my vote. guest: unfortunately you are suffering like millions of americans are suffering. we are a community organization that really can't do everything for everyone. we don't know if we could get you a job. we can certainly try to refer you to folks who do that. we can't pay your rent but i am sure that we can refer you to agencies that do do that.

i will work, again, is try to help people stay in their home. so if you have a problem with and,, part of president obama with the problem with incoming, part of president obama's program, you may qualify for that. i don't know who your bank is. acorn is not all things to all people. we do try to help as much as we can. we don't provide a lot of the services that people need, but what we do do is try to steer you to folks who can do that for you. so, i know your situation is unfortunate and, please, call our office again. we may not be able to help you. we can't help everyone, but at least we can give you some advice and where you might be able to come to get some help. host: you have been a ceo for a year. why have you become a ceo? guest: actually with acorn being a 40-year-old organization,

suffered greatly after katrina. and we had one founder for years that led to the organization. and last year our board found out that his brother, in fact, had been misappropriating funds. we got all of that money back and the board said, you are fired. immediately, you are fired. let us review everything and let us chart a new course. so, surprising to me, the board voted unanimously and the thought that i should lead in the organization. made a lot of changes and my style is a lot different from previous administration, but the board put me in charge and i intend to make sure that this organization is strong.

host: kathleen kennedy townsend, henry cisneros, some of the members of the board. new york city, independent. caller: that's fine. good morning to you i have just a couple of questions. are you folks did deleted with cobra at all -- national coalition for reparations by blacks in america? guest: i have heard of that organization the we are not affiliated. question caller: no. 2 -- you guys should be sat down for pure stupidity. that white guy with the for walking into your office is -- you got to give me a break. guest: i absolutely agree with you which is why, as the ceo, i took swift and immediate action, terminated those employees because regardless as to what we know or edited or doctored tapes

where you don't see anything where finally people were thrown out in dozens of our offices, it is inexcusable and indefensible to sort of have such poor judgment. that is not our professional standards. that is why those folks were terminated, because all of my other employees, of course, they did the right thing. they saw this ridiculous couple who, by the way, were very aggressive and refused to leave some of our offices. but our other employees did the right thing. and so, we wanted to make sure that people understood this is not who we are. we will not tolerate even two minutes of that kind of conversation. our standards are much higher and, in fact, these folks got thrown out of a lot of offices. so, this handful of employees, it is unfortunate, but you know what? you can't work for me if you don't have common sense. host: what would you like to say

to james o'keefe -- guest: i know he is a conservative videographer. he went after planned parenthood and called up and said, i want my money to go for abortions for black women because there are just too many of those black people. this young man, he has his agenda. and i guess he is trying to make his way in the world. i do think it is disturbing, however, that if you want to go undercover, to come into an organization that 99% is black and brown people, that you would think to dress up as a pimp and a prostitute and sort of bull your way into these offices. i think that says a little bit about what mr. o'keefe thinks that a black and brown organization would go for. i hope the republicans and the right wing --

in this economy i guess everybody needs to find a way to earn a living. but i do think that mr. o'keefe should talk -- i don't think his mom would be pleased with implying a pimp. host: chicago, doris, democrat. caller: good morning. i'm a fan of acorn. i received the newsletter. i did send you a donation yesterday. guest: thank you. caller: i would urge people to do that and i know since 2003 you have help to people stay in their homes, 20,000 people, you help renegotiate their mortgage. i see that you also took on hsbc finance corp., the subprime lenders, and made them get back some of the money.

you keep up that work. guest: thank you. we really have never stopped doing the work that we have to do for low-income neighborhoods. you know, we had a campaign called the home wreckers campaign in which we really were defending folks from being thrown out. people that get in trouble with their mortgage, maybe they were not counseled before, and the banks of the late, delayed, delayed. and instead of working with folks and trying to redo their mortgage, it just seemed to be a crassness about it. and it really affects neighborhoods when you have these abandoned of homes. its tax base goes down, local governments suffers and the neighborhood suffers. so we believe that in terms of federal dollars, if you want to talk about, billions went to these banks and we think that

they ought to give back something to the american public by way of really seriously helping people stay in their homes, and that is what we do every single day and we will continue to do that host: texas, republican, you are on the air. caller: i would like to make a statement and ask a question. i am an 82-year-old -- guest: god bless you. caller: i voted for thomas dewey in 1948 and i bought my home, was in world war ii, the korean war and the benon war -- paid for it, worked for a, without any help from anyone. i want to ask -- if you could tell me why the people of the united states, black and brown,

need help? why can't they take care of their own business? this organization is not necessary. that is my opinion. thank you very much. guest: i thank you of that opinion. i would ask the same question, in the greatest country in the world, why there are folks who are living in a crushing poverty, shut out from the system? god bless you, 82 years old. my grandmother did not live as long as you and i hope that you stay in very good health and that you have good health care. my parents worked the same as you did for years, had eight children, put kids through college. we never got any help of any kind. my mother worked two jobs so that my father -- and so, and understand the work ethic and being a bright and dark -- and honest. but there are people in this country -- not just black and

brown folks. there are so many low and moderate income asians, white people, that really need help. it is across the country where we are seeing the economic crisis affect folks. there are people who were traditionally stuck in poverty, and they were white as well. so there is a rainbow of folks who suffered in the united states, and we as a country, we are a great country, we take care of the least of hours, making sure children and other people are protected. so i think it is to this country's credits backed it actually does help anyone who is in need. but i agree with you, we should not have people in the greatest country in the world suffering in poverty no matter what their color. host: where did you grow up? guest: i was born in a place

called -- florida. mckinley was mike and workers -- and i grew up in philadelphia and moved to new york. now i will be commuting back and forth between new york and washington, d.c. host: how much time will you be spending on capitol hill? guest: i think we will be spending a lot more time than we originally planned as we map out the coming year. but it is important, i think, when an organization like ours is singled out and targeted in a way that we have been, maybe we did not realize it would happen to us, but it is a reality. i think we owe it to our members, we owe it to folks that we organize, to spend the time here because, again, it is a very chilling effect when one group is targeted.

the old saying was, they come for us in the morning and they come for you at night. so we will be spending a lot of time here. so i just want to let congress and the senate and washington, d.c., know that we will be here in force at least for the next six months. host: fox news is one floor below us, have you been invited? guest: i have been invited. i have not been on. as you can well imagine, they are not my favorite station. last year when we were being attacked relentlessly in the run up to the erection -- to the election, with all sorts of wild allegations -- >> "washington journal" is live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. we take you live to the white house for the briefing with robert gibbs. >> an order to enlighten more greatly the week ahead,

described in great detail the week ahead and the events at the u.n. general assembly, we have our u.n. ambassador susan rice will walk you through and take some questions and then we will do the regular scheduled conference. >> good afternoon, everyone. in anticipation of president obama's historic first visit to the united nations next week, i would like to talk to you about the work we have been doing at the u.n. over the past eight months to advance our interests and make american safer and how the president intends to use his time up in the united nations next week. the united states has dramatically changed the tone, substance, and practice of our diplomacy at the united nations, and our approach to the u.n. as an institution, as well as approach to multilateralism in general. we start from the premise that this change is necessary because we face an extraordinary array

of global challenges. things like poorly-guarded nuclear facilities, terrorism by al qaeda and affiliate's, nuclear challenges from iran and north korea, genocide and mass atrocities, cyber attacks on our digital infrastructure, pandemic disease, climate change, international criminal networks and organizations. these transnational security challenges can only be dealt with in cooperation with other nations. they can't by definition be dealt with by any single country in isolation. in the 21st century, america's security and wellbeing is in fact inextricably linked to the security and well-being of people elsewhere, and the united nations is thus essential to our efforts to galvanize concerted international action to make americans safer and more secure. so, in both the security council and the united nations general assembly, we are working

to forge common purpose with other nations. let me brief you -- briefly go over the principles that guided our new approach to the u.n.. first, we work at the u.n. to promote america's core national security interest. in north korea, we negotiated the unanimous security council resolution imposing the toughest sanctions on the books against any country in the world today. we also continue our work in the security council to ensure that iran meets its nuclear obligations and to deal with pressing crises in places from the congo to somalia. second, we participate constructively. rather than throw up our hands and walk away, we tried to roll up our sleeves and get things done. consider the united nations human rights council. in may, we changed course and sought a seat on the council and we want that seat with 90% of the votes cast.

we join this troubled body fully aware of its many flaws. but we recognize that we can't fix it or contribute to fixing it simply by carping from the outside. third, we stand firmly on principle and a resolute on issues that matter most to us, but we are not picking patti battles simply for the sake of being contrary. and the past we have sometimes let ourselves be designed as much as what we stand against as what we stand for. so we changed course. week embraced at are on the united nations millennium development goals, -- we embraced on our own the united nations millennium the vellum and goals, and assistance to support family planning and reproductive health services, signed the first new human rights convention of the 21st century, the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. we reversed course to back a statement at the general assembly opposing violence and

discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation. we no longer block at mentions of reproductive health or oppose references to the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. fourth, we seek constructive working relationships with nations large and small. while we pursue more effective cooperation among members of the security council, the 15 members of the security council, we are also mindful of the fact that the united nations consist of 192 member states, all of whom vote in the general assembly and more than half of the u.n.'s membership consists of small states with populations of less than 10 million people. so we work with the vast majority of countries on the basis of both regional interests and mutual respect to try to bridge old the bides and resist the efforts of a handful of customers boilers to prevent shared progress. -- customary spoilers to the

event shared progress. we meet our obligations. as we call on others to help reform and strengthen the united nations the united states has to do its part as well. we are paying our bills. we worked with congress to pay our dues in full and on time. thanks to the strong support of congress we have been able to clear u.s. arrears' to the u.n.'s regular budget and those to the peacekeeping budget which accumulated from 2005 through 2008. we will meet our 2009 obligations on the peacekeeping budget in full and in the fy 20 -- if the fy 2010 budget request fully funded we will keep up on both regular and peace-keeping accounts, and allowing us to start to move toward ending the practice begun in the 1980's of paying our bills to the u.n. and other international organizations nearly a year late. finally, we pushed for serious reform. the u.n. needs both a greater

efficiency and greater effectiveness. each dollar must serve its intended purpose. it must be spent cleanly and wisely, be it for development or peacekeeping. we need peacekeeping operations to the plant expertly, deploy more quickly, budgeted realistically, equipped seriously, ably led when it ended responsibly. in january when i went up for my senate confirmation hearings i testified that we would be pursuing for broad long-term priorities at the united nations. its focus on peacekeeping, development, climate change, and nonproliferation. the president's visit to the united nations next week will highlight the administration's focus on each of those four prairie areas. let me take you through briefly some of the major events on the president's agenda, and in what i hope is a fair reflection of chronological order. on tuesday, september 22, president obama will deliver

remarks at the secretary general's summit meeting on climate change. this is a head of state-level meeting open to the entire u.n. membership, so it is an opportunity for the president to reaffirm the u.s. commitment to addressing the challenge of climate change and discuss solutions bid with a truly diverse global audience at the highest levels. >> the president will also host on the 22nd a lunch for heads of state and government from sub- saharan africa. this event will focus on how the united states can work in partnership with african governments to strengthen african economic and social development. the talk will focus primarily on three topics -- job creation, especially for young people, creating a more conducive climate for trade and investment, and ways to mobilize african agriculture to create jobs and help feed the continent. also on the 22nd the president

will have a bilateral meeting with chinese president who jintao -- hu jintao and will host -- the ad climate change dinner hosted by secretary general. on a 23rd he will meet with the japanese prime minister for the first time. he will then deliver his historic first speech to the united nations general assembly and addressed his in view of international cooperation in the 21st century and the need to move beyond divisions to focus on the future. he will lay out a new direction that he has set for american foreign policy and talk about our mutual responsibilities to make progress on several key priorities that will advance our common security and prosperity. also on wednesday the president will host a meeting with countries who contributed the largest numbers of police and troops to the united nations peacekeeping operations. this is an opportunity for the president to focus attention on

reforming and strengthening u.n. peacekeeping for the 21st century and a recognizable largely unheralded contribution of those providing the backbone of these critical peacekeeping operations. the same day the president will attend secretary general bond came on's annual launched 4 heads of state and governments -- secretary general ban ki moon's annual lunch for the heads of state. he will meet with president of russia -- and then a first leading reception. all the 24th the president will chair a some level meeting of the united nations security council on nuclear non- proliferation and nuclear disarmament. this summit will focus on these topics broadly, very much consistent with the things the president outlined in his speech in prague. this is only the first -- this is only the fifth ever summit- level meeting of the security

council and the first time an american prisoner will ever have shared the united nations security council. our goal and this regard is to underscore the global reach the proliferation threats, broadly shared obligation to respond to these threats and the positive steps taken to reduce nuclear dangers and the central role of the security council and addressing growing and pressing nuclear threats. so it is a very full agenda. one that we look forward to as a means of underscoring both the value of the institution of united nations and the work that needs to be done by us and others to reform and strengthen it, to make it as effective as it needs to be to address 21st century challenges to live up to its potential and be what its founders envisioned it could be. with that, i am happy to take your questions. them are there times you can give us for all of these events? -- >> are there times to give us

all of that? >> i am not prepared to give specific times. bam action at a more substantive question. are there other meetings going around -- >> actually i have more substantive questions. are there any meetings going around in terms of middle east peace process or lower level out of reach to other governments and some in the middle east intelligence about? >> first of all, this week at the united nations general some -- assembly is full of all kinds of meetings -- bilateral, multilateral, small and large group. some of which are shared and hosted by the united states. i have outlined what we were doing at the presidential level. for the most part the secretary of state has are on very full schedule. i, too, will be joining in those meetings with the president and secretary at a substantial extent and doing meetings of my own as to other officials. it is a very busy time. and then, of course, other

countries are hosting their own set of meetings. there is no shortage of activity on all these fronts. with respect to the middle east, i am not in the position to announce anything other than what i have just described but i think it is fair to say that when the state department is in position to outline -- the secretary schedule, you will see a lot of meetings related to that region and others. >> what is the main theme of his address to the u.n.? >> i think i shared with you, the main theme is we face a pressing a ray of global challenges. we need the kind of cooperation and leadership from a wide range of countries to meet those challenges effectively. we can't afford to get bogged down and the traditional north- south or other customary could imagine that have hindered effective cooperation. everybody has a shared responsibility. >> could you tell us any of the

meetings that have to do with cuba, iran, or syria? >> not aware of any meetings related to cuba. with respect to iran, this is a topic that i think will come up in a number of different meetings. we have talked about taking stock of where we are with iran without partners in a period of time. that will happen not only in the format of p5 plus one -- russia, china, france, uk, u.s., plus germany. but there will also be discussions at the g-8 level. nope. -- no. are you doing this, or do you want me to -- >> does the president expect any concrete advances or agreements, anything you can hold in your hand and say this is what we

accomplished during the three days? >> yes, with respect to the united nations security council summit, we are expecting the agreement on a meaningful, comprehensive united nations security council resolution on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. >> that will be the only thing where we will see a resolution of sorts? >> that is the only place we could get a resolution. >> bilateral -- anything concrete or negotiations leading to something down the road? hoping for any announcement, anything concrete ? >> i anything concretepre-seat -- i will not pre-stage anything that could come out next week. that would be unproductive. these are meetings with important leaders and partners and they will undoubtably be effected in advancing our agenda and interests. >> housekeeping things.

you didn't mention the clinton global initiative speech. is he still doing that? that is not off the schedule? >> no. >> you did not mention anything monday. does he have any u.n. or global leader-related on monday when he first gets there? >> no. >> just quickly, and the middle east -- >> david letterman. >> there have been talks that there could be a trilateral meeting next week. is there any hope that there could be one, or is that off the table? >> i am not in a position to make announcements or predictions about that. >> ambassador, you sort of hinted at the idea that the u.n. needs to reform itself. the president at the g-8 said when we asked, why are all these summits happening, g-8, g-20,

second one and likely more could come out of the g-20 then the u.n. as far as deliverable, but what are the ways to measure if this reform effort that you are -- what are going to be the easy ways for us to see that maybe the u.n. is reforming itself? >> that is a broad but important question. there are many different ways in which we are working to encourage reform and renewal of the united nations. indeed, there has been significant progress in that regard over the past four or five years. some of that has come in the form of greater management efficiency, transparency, opportunities for cost savings. we are pursuing all of that. in the wake of the oil for food scandal, the u.n. went through a very substantial set of in- channel management reforms. a lot of the focus is not implementing the reforms and

making sure what was promised was actually delivered. but beyond that, we are looking in particular at streamlining and making more effective if you and peacekeeping over the long term. this is the most costly and important, arguably, instrument the united nations employes to protect civilians and enhance peace and security internationally. it accounts for some 70% of overall expenditures. there are 15 operations around the world, some 115,000 troops, police, civilians, deployed more than ever before, taking one far more complex challenges than ever before. we are working with the institution and other member states to make those deployments more swift, more effective, and make sure we are getting optimal bang up for our submitted and resources. looking for opportunities to consolidate logistical support in places like africa where there are a number of different

operations present. cost savings, efficiencies, but also with greater effectiveness for the operations. we are the largest computer -- contributor and we are also acting now every much as a responsive and constructive participant in the united nations context. when you talk about making the institution more effective and efficient, it is not from the vantage point of wanting to see it fail, it is from the vantage point of one to see it succeed. >> is there is some level meeting of the p5 plus 1? and what the need to do to prepare for the october talks set up with iran? >> the p5 plus one will meet at the ministerial level, but obviously the president will interact with the leaders

individually throughout his time there, including at the security council summit context. i will leave it to the state department to outline the preparations for the october 1 meeting. but suffice it to say, the meetings in -- will be an important opportunity for the united states concert but the partners and be very plain about our shared objectives, what we expect of iran and what will define a project about compared -- outcome. >> another angle of the reform question. what are the next step is for china and some of the world's other rising powers to have more of a stake and more of a say in global institutions such as the u.n. and some of the other ones? will there be any movement next week or any steps taken next week toward that goal? >> china has a big stake and it

has been, as in all, a member of the permanent five. it acts in that role very much in an active way. china is one of the countries with which we were quite closely on the security council. but it is also a major player in the general assembly, where it has traditionally come to work with and sometimes on behalf of the non-aligned movement, which is part of a phenomenon i alluded to earlier in which activity in the general assembly in the past has often broken down the form of block politics -- non-aligned, sometimes western and developed countries on the other hand. these sort of blocks and divisions are outdated. also sell new debt -- but not serve the national interests.

part of what we are beginning to see and what we think is essential in tackling the challenges i described at the outset is for countries to move beyond the traditional reflexive block affiliations and look at ways to step up individually and collectively in meeting 21st century security threats. >> an ongoing conversation? >> not quite sure what you envision. >> more of like imf and world bank, trying to figure out -- >> not in that context. >> will the president talk about the missile the fence shield and either the general assembly session or the security council session on thursday? why does it appear the president did not really reach out and talk to either the czech republic of polish leaders to about until the night before announced it here? >> we have been in regular consultations with our allies in

the czech republic and poland going back many months. this is a dialogue that the not begin this week. i think there are misperceptions about the extent of the engagement and interaction on this subject. i used with the president wanted to reach out in advance of any announcement and do so at his level and did so i think, quite appropriately. what did this comes up in the course of next week, i think probably not likely to be a major theme. i cannot exclude that it will come up, but not directly germane to the main things. >> giving the evil eye, so i will call on her. [laughter] >> and her beautiful smile. >> thank you. that is what i'm talking about.

ambassador rice, back on africa, something you are very close to, what realistically can happen on this expansion of trade with africa in the next four years and also, going back to peacekeeping in africa and also the issue of somalia, will those issues be on the table as well? >> the lunch the president will host with sub-saharan african heads of state and government and my knowledge and experience, unprecedented. it is an opportunity for him to engage with leaders from african countries where the issues that are frankly most pressing to them -- how to deal with -- generating employment opportunities, how to promote trade and investment and how to feed those that go without every night? so this is a very important opportunity to underscore that we shared interest in addressing

those challenges. promoting trade and investment, part of this is to hear from african leaders what they feel would be in the current context, most appropriate vehicles. as you know, over the last 10 or 15 years, the united states has taken a number of important steps to try to open up the u.s. market to goods and services and africa. that has had substantial benefit. but job creating investment, both international and domestic, or regional, is still very much something we have an interest in encouraging and promoting, the africans more than anybody has an interest in promoting. -- and respect to somalia, what specifically where you asking? >> the border, trying to constitute building of their arsenals of members as well as the top al qaeda leader being killed over there.

is the president going to be talking to them about possibly helping to regain a foothold -- fold of democracy in that country or something? >> our goal in somalia obviously is to help support both a peace process, the transitional federal government, the best hope somalia has had for quite some while, and the african union peacekeepers that are there very much on the front lines of supporting the nascent government. we want to see a somalia that is stable, that is not serving or able to serve as a safe haven for al qaeda-affiliated terrorists. they can end the years of humanitarian suffering and move to a responsible government that is able to assert its authority over all of that territory. so we are providing active support diplomatically to the transition of federal government. secretary clinton, when she was in the region, met for the first

time with the somali president. we are providing material support and humanitarian assistance and even some development assistance in somalia in an effort to try to consolidate the fragile progress that has been made. >> extremist out of there -- what is the government doing? and i think are a variety of efforts underway in support -- >> i think there are a variety of efforts under way to root out those who are planning or plotting or engaged in terrorist actions. >> regarding the nuclear nonproliferation resolution, what do you expect it to say and what concrete changes of policies might come out of it? >> the resolution focuses -- first of all, let me be careful and say it is not final. it is still being negotiated. but i think it is close enough where i can give you some sense of where it is heading. it will focus on three broad areas.

the united states and other international efforts, particularly among the permanent five members of the security council, nuclear powers, to move in a direction that is reinforcing of the goal that the president articulated of a world without nuclear weapons. so there is a significant disarmament aspect of this. very importantly, without a country-specific focus, means to strengthen the global nuclear nonproliferation regime. and we hope that this effort of 15 countries to come together in support of very important goals and plans will give impetus to the 2010 non-proliferation review conference that what happened next year at the united nations -- which will happen

next year of the united nations. the third area is securing loose nuclear materials. a very important goal that the president has long articulate it. it will look forward to the meeting the president convened next year here in washington in march on the subject. so, in the three areas, i anticipate strengthening the normative as well as the substantive basis for action in each of the areas. >> what specific disarmament steps might come out of the? >> the resolution, you will have an opportunity to see in the coming days when it is in its final form. but i think it gives you -- probably by very early next week. >> a question from germany -- what is the wish you have most often, beverly that your predecessor, and what in your eyes is the biggest achievement so far in the new cooperative

approach? >> it is interesting. we don't hear a lot of, we wish you would do x and y now, but i am hearing i am glad you have done x and y and z. i don't say that to be flat, but in all honesty, whether it it is working -- whether it is joining the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, whether it is working constructively, even in difficult circumstances, to try to find a rational outcome to the negotiations that were under way under the global financial crisis, or whether our successful efforts to negotiate the north korean sanctions regime, we are seeing the fruits of the new administration's change in policy and approach of the united nations. and we are frankly fortunate, and i'm fortunate to hear a lot

of positive reinforcement in that regard. i think the most abhorrent accomplishment thus far is what i just mentioned, is the fact that we came together quickly and unanimously on two occasions to increase the pressure on north korea to abandon its nuclear program and its missile development. >> climate change talks are essentially stalled. what did this press -- does the president hope to achieve on the address on tuesday and what the outcomes that may result? >> i think first of all, the secretary general of the united nations viewed this summit as an opportunity to bring together all of the countries of the world to try to galvanize progress in advance of copenhagen. clearly, the road is rafa had appeared -- the road is rough and head and i do not think anyone comes with illusions.

but i think it is significant you will have many heads of states from the most vulnerable and fragile countries struggling to adapt to the effects of climate change, that need the technology and support to develop in spite of climate change, and you will have the most significant countries that contribute to climate change all together seriously addressing this problem, acknowledging the reality and not denying the science and fact, and talk about ways quite concrete lead that we could take steps nationally and collectively to address the challenge. the president underscored the importance we attach and the seriousness with which we view the challenge of climate change. but it is _ this is a shared challenge, that everybody must that if we're going to succeed in making concrete progress. >> before --

>> not before the entire -- >> he has and some cents on the campaign in front of a global audience. but the root of the question, besides rhetoric both from the u.s. and other countries -- >> this is not a negotiation. >> we know it is not. >> we need to be clear. this is a series of seminars and speeches and the stassen's -- discussions in groups large and small. there will be some opportunities for heads of states to draw down in specific challenges -- mitigation, financing -- but in the broader sense, as i tried to explain in the outset, an effort to give political momentum in its spirit is not a negotiating session. >> either formally or informally? >> i cannot answer that with certainty. >> if i might -- the talks

coming up, the iranians made it clear although they will talk they will not talk about suspending the program. president ahmadinejad will be at the u.n.. are you hoping he will get an earful? >> from everybody? i don't expect they will have a direct engagement. i think they may find there are many americans who are outraged by not only his comments of today, which were hateful in again denying the holocaust, but also expressing serious condemnation of what has transpired in iran over the last several months in the wake of the elections. i would not be surprised if there were public gatherings that reinforce that message.

i would gather other governments listening to ahmadinejad's speech will be listening carefully whether he prizes some of the same themes of the past or has anything different to say. >> my question is whether you are expecting other governments to reinforce your message to him at the u.n.? >> yes. >> do you expect the delegations of the united states to walk out when he speaks -- if they come up to try to approach the president, how will he handle it? >> i do not want to guess what they might say or what would be the appropriate response. that is in the realm of a hypothetical. with respect to the iranian leader, i don't think there is much likelihood that there will be interaction. there is no obvious than it that that would occur and certainly we have no meetings or anything

of the sort planned. and with respect to khadafi, libya holds a seat at present on the united nations security council. and libya will be present at the security council summit meeting. >> is that following through with what then senator obama promised or pledged, that he would have conversations and reached out with world leaders? why not have some kind of formal or informal discussions with president ahmadinejad? >> i think we have been very clear that there is an offer that was made by the p5 plus one in april. of late there has been a response to it, albeit vague, and opportunity and venue for discussion would be october 1. >> let's let the ambassador back

to work. >> thank you, ca next week. -- see you next week. >> we do. let me do just a brief -- i will fill in the week ahead that was not done. on monday, the president will deliver a speech on the economy at hudson valley community college in troy, n.y., where you will be joined with dr. jill biden. and the president will travel to the united nations in new york. on tuesday, the president will deliver remarks at the clinton global initiative. on thursday, following meetings at the u.n., the president will depart new york in route to pittsburgh, pa., to host the g- 20 summit. in the evening the president

will host a working dinner with g-20 leaders. on friday, there are a number of sessions. there is a lunch with g-20 leaders followed by the press conference at the end of that afternoon. in the evening the president will return to the white house and spend next week and in washington, d.c. say again? >> on tuesday -- >> i don't have the times. my sense was it was in the afternoon, but i don't know if we have a final * for some of those things. i have not seen a draft yet. >> mrs. obama's speech today on health care, is that the kind of thing -- should we expect to see her pace ramp up just like the president's has been on health care? or was this a loan even?

>> -- lone event. >> this is a topic she and the president care deeply but about an issue she has worked on before, and she is obviously a very popular figure in america and if she could help out, we are happy to have her. >> are there plans to put her out front more? >> yes, sir. >> president dick -- ahmadinejad's comments -- what is their reaction? >> i don't know if the president's per se heard that. i think regardless, we have heard that type of rhetoric before. obviously we condemn what he said. and i would point to what the president said in cairo, denying the holocaust is baseless, ignorant, and hateful.

promoting the vicious lies and serves only to isolate iran further from the war -- the world. >> following up on a question to dr. -- ambassador rice, when about a possible meeting 1 elisse ps? >> i don't have anything to add with what the ambassador said. if we have an announcement to make, we will do that. >> and last did on that. an israeli official said today they would consider stalling building for nine months instead of six months, settlements, in an effort for middle east peace. >> obviously something like that, i think, would be very helpful to the overall process and continue the process -- progress that i think former senator mitchell and the whole team is seeing on this front. and we hope to continue that momentum. >> the announcement yesterday